Colleges, athletes on display at 51st NWCA All-Star Classic

Manheim, Pa. — Fourteen different college programs will be highlighted in showcase bouts at the 51st annual NWCA All-Star Classic on Nov. 5 at Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center.

Along with the 14 different schools, Olympian Haley Augello will face Junior World Team member Becka Leathers in a women’s freestyle bout and a pair of bouts will also take place featuring local high school and middle school wrestlers.

The event, presented by The Brewer-Garrett Company and hosted by the Wrestlers in Business Network, has served as the major kickoff event for the wrestling season since becoming and early-season event. In 2012, the event moved to the first weekend of the major college wrestling calendar and has been a fixture ever since.

“One of the big draws to hosting the event is the ability to showcase the nation’s top wrestlers, but to also showcase local athletes, programs and competitors who come from a given area but may compete out of state,” said NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer.

Augello, the representative for the U.S. at 48kg/105.5 pounds in the Olympic Games in Rio this past August, is an unbeaten two-time WCWA champion for King University in Bristol, Tenn. She competes at 116 pounds during the college season. Leathers, a sophomore from Oklahoma City University, won the WCWA championship last year at 123 pounds. Previous U.S. women to compete in the All-Star showcase bouts have been 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Randi Miller and 2016 Olympic gold medalist Helen Maroulis.

Individually, three of the bouts will be Division I matchups as host Cleveland State will send out Milan, Ohio, native Evan Cheek at 141 pounds to face Lock Haven’s Ronnie Perry in a matchup between EWL foes. Perry is coming off a solid redshirt season where he finished sixth at the Midlands, while Cheek was third in the EWL last season.

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George DiCamillo, a senior at the University of Virginia from nearby Highland Heights, will return to the area to face Clarion’s Brock Zacherl in a matchup of returning NCAA qualifiers. DiCamillo moves up to 141 pounds after spending the last three seasons at 133.

At 157 pounds, two-time Division I qualifier Joey LaVallee will give Missouri its fourth wrestler at the event. LaVallee, who is coming off a redshirt season, will face Rutgers’ Richie Lewis, a two-time NJCAA All-American at Iowa Central who qualified for the Division I championships last season for the Scarlet Knights.

Division II All-Americans also are highlighted, with a pair of them coming from nearby Notre Dame College. Cobey Fehr, a Barberton, Ohio, native finished seventh at the NCAA Division II championships last season. He’ll face Case Western Reserve’s Isaac Collier at 149 pounds. Collier, a junior from nearby Northfield, is a graduate of St. Edward High School in Lakewood.

Notre Dame College’s second competitor, Garrett Lineberger, is a two-time Division II All-American and a 2014 Division II champion. He placed fifth last season. He’ll face John Carroll University’s Mason Litz, a sophomore from Fowlerville, Michigan, at 197 pounds.

Another Division II All-American in the mix is Lake Erie College’s Evan Rosborough. An eighth-place finisher in 2014, Rosborough will face Baldwin Wallace’s Division III national qualifier Tyler Maclellan, also at 197 pounds.

The NAIA will also be represented, with returning national champion and three-time All-American Mitch Pawlak of Indiana Tech facing John Carroll’s Mitch Tikkanen at 125 pounds.

Two of Ohio’s stellar high school programs will also be showcased in a bout at 113 pounds as Walsh Jesuit’s Matt Fields will face St. Edward’s Matt Kazimir. This is a rematch of last year’s OHSAA Division I semifinal, won by Fields 3-0. Fields finished second, while Kazimir finished third.

Two up-and-coming middle school talents will also compete against one another at 70 pounds. State freestyle champion Patrick Reineke of Wickliffe Middle School will take on Wyatt Richter of Brecksville Middle. Wickliffe finished third at the 2015 USA Wrestling Preseason Nationals, while Richter has been impressive, winning titles at Reno and Tulsa Nationals. He was the runner-up at the Ohio Youth State Tournament in 2015.

2016 NWCA All-Star Classic Presented by The Brewer-Garrett Company
Hosted by the Wrestlers in Business Network
November 5, 2016 - Wolstein Center, Cleveland State University
Time: Showcase Matches 6 p.m.; Main Event 7 p.m.
Tickets: $15 GA, $100 Preferred Seating/Social. Group options available.
Tickets available at www.goallstarclassic.com or Wolstein Center Box Office ( 844-407-2279) or Northeast Ohio Discount Drug Marts.
Streaming: Trackwrestling.com